Whisky industry leaders have voiced their concerns about a Scottish government report that suggests banning the sale of alcohol-branded merchandise.
According to the BBC, distilleries across Scotland feel a possible ban would harm their business and the tourism trade overall. Industry leaders have also dismissed a claim in the report that without marketing and branding, alcohol products are “essentially variations of the same thing”.
However, the Scottish government has said that it would communicate with those in the industry before introducing any legislation. The report aims to lower alcohol-related deaths and hospitalisations by limiting alcohol marketing.
Scotland-based whisky broker and consultant Blair Bowman told the BBC that he was “livid” at “extreme proposals” in the report. He believes addressing the issues with alcohol at a grassroots level would be more effective.
“It would be so damaging to tourism in Scotland, it just wouldn’t make any sense,” he added. “The implications are pretty enormous and I don’t think they’ve been fully thought through in terms of the mechanics of what that would mean.
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“A lot of these distilleries are in really beautiful, amazing rural communities and they bring fantastic numbers of tourists to these places and they can keep these jobs in these places.
“A lot of gin and whisky distilleries and breweries sell these branded glasses and more as souvenirs and if they were suddenly told they couldn’t sell them anymore, it would be very difficult and very surreal.”
The report from the Scottish government also wishes to tackle alcohol sponsorship in sport by prohibiting alcohol-branded sports merchandise.
Given that the report is currently at a consultation stage, the government and Bowman have urged people to give feedback on the proposals before the deadline on 9 March.
